Lottery sales will contribute as much as £1.5 billion  toward the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The National Lottery Commission today named the closely held group as the preferred bidder for the new 10-year licence, which starts February 1 2009.

Camelot was picked over its only rival, Sugal & Damani Lottery Agency Pvt. Ltd., India's largest lottery company.

Camelot has run the lottery since it began in 1994.

Camelot, owned by De La Rue Plc, Cadbury Schweppes Plc, Thales SA, Fujitsu Services Ltd. and Royal Mail Group Plc, is under pressure to revive ticket sales that slipped two percent to £4.9 billion in the fiscal year through March.

The consortium predicted sales of £79 billion over the license period, with £22 billion going to good causes, £4 billion more than Sugal & Damani had projected.

The centrepiece of its bid was a draw involving lotteries in dozens of countries and creating up to 100 millionaire winners each month.

Camelot was "considered better able to maximize returns to good causes,'' National Lottery Commission chairman Anne Wright told a press conference in London.

"More significantly, the commission concluded that there was a strong probability that Camelot Group would achieve higher sales over the course of the licence.''

Since 1994, the UK lottery, the world's fifth-largest, has paid out £29 billion in prizes and raised £20 billion for projects that include London's Tate Modern art gallery.